


Day Three - "Farewell"

by Element_of_Fabulosity



Series: Akatsuki no Yona Angst Week 2k19 [3]
Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Angst, F/M, Feels, Futurefic, Gen, akatsuki no yona angst week 2k19, anyangstweek2k19, hinted hakyona, y'all missed a great opportunity to call that ship yak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 10:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19944835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Element_of_Fabulosity/pseuds/Element_of_Fabulosity
Summary: The not-too-distant future. Yona says goodbye.





	Day Three - "Farewell"

**Author's Note:**

> 666 words, according to google docs. ACTUALLY SATAN CONFIRMED. And oh, look, I'm posting this on time. Be amazed.

It’s for the best.

Yona can’t count how many times she’s said variations on those four words in the past weeks. It’s for the best. It’s for the greater good. And...she’s right, and no one can argue with her on that point.

This marriage --her marriage-- will solidify Kouka’s shaky relationship with the Kai Empire. The  _ united _ Kai Empire. Trade will increase, boosting Kouka’s downward-sliding economy. More than a temporary ceasefire, there will be lasting peace along the northern border- southern, Yona corrects herself. To her, it will be the southern border.

Her newly-reassigned maid twists a strand of hair and slides another pin into place. She steps around the ridiculously full skirt to work on the other side of Yona’s head. “Almost done, Your Highness,” she murmurs.

Yona nods, barely listening. She tries to focus on what this will mean at what she thinks of as  _ ground level, _ the tangible effects. She thinks about that village in Sen Province, where she danced and Hak laughed at her hair. She imagines it more filled with young men, husbands and brothers no longer forced to serve the army. She remembers the children in Saika, when she was still on the run with Hak and Yun and her Dragons. She thinks of dirt-smudged faces and pictures them in real homes.

There’s a knock at the door. The maid’s hands pause. Yona presses her palms to the vanity to steady herself.

Hak enters, Ren in his arms.

...Shin-ah was too ill, then.

“Lord Hak. Lord Ryokuryuu,” the maid whispers.

Yona plasters a smile on, more for Ren’s sake than anyone. Hak knows how she feels. She knows he hates that she’s making this choice --he’s said as much-- but he supports her regardless. He knows how important her kingdom is to her.

Ren laughs and grins back, showing off the gaps where his baby teeth have yet to come in. He reaches for the ornaments glittering in Yona’s hair. “Pwetty! You spawkwing, Yona!”

Yona’s laugh is genuine. She ruffles Ren’s green strands. Her smile falls as she looks up at Hak.

...he looks as though he wants to cry.

“Hak.” She cups his cheek. Her fingertips graze his hair. His skin is warm.

She wants to run away with him right now, damn the consequences.

_ “Hak.” _

He meets her gaze. She leans into him, breathing him in. Ren bumps his head into her temple and goes for her hairpins, eliciting a squawk from her maid. Hot tears well at Yona’s eyes. “Take care of him. Take care of Aiko and-”

Her voice breaks. “-and Shin-ah. Keep Zeno out of trouble. You and Yun look after each other.”

Hak shifts Ren to one arm. He presses Yona to him, burying his head in her shoulder. His breath is hot on her neck. His touch is electric.

Yona can barely get the words out. “I’ll write. I’ll visit. I promise.”

“Don’t go.”

Worlds of desperation are packed into those two words.

Yona peels herself from Hak. Her silk dress is crushed by the embrace. Her maids will have to redo her makeup to cover the teartracks. “I’m sorry,” she breathes.

Ren’s brown eyes are saucers. He’s figured out something is wrong. The canniness of toddlers. “Yona?” He looks at Hak when she doesn’t answer. “Where Yona going?”

Hak looks away.

Ren’s voice rises. “Where Yona going? Where-”

“Her Highness is marrying the son of the Emperor of Kai,” the maid says. She clasps her hands. “She will live in the imperial capital.”

Ren looks from the maid to Hak to Yona. “Wanna go too!” He pounds Hak’s chest. “I wanna go! I don’t-! I don’t want Yona go!”

Yona opens her mouth, then closes it. Ren won’t understand about the borders. About the kingdom-sized cage he’s fated to live in.

There’s a knock at the door. Min-su and another servant, in Kai garb, enter. “Your Highness. It’s time.”

Yona locks eyes with Hak. She turns away. It’s for the best.

**Author's Note:**

> "If I have to suffer through writing this, you have to suffer through reading it." -me to my sister.


End file.
